I added an update. The phrase doesn't necessarily have to be a 'solution'
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philshemFeb 22 '14 at 3:31

Forget solution and call it an "iteration"? Our "most recent iteration" has features X, Y and Z and fixes bugs 1, 2 and 3. Or "version". Nothing in software is ever final unless you're out of business, so the word "final" here seems to be the most problematic.
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Michael HamptonFeb 22 '14 at 16:25

It's not actually for software, I just wanted to take the concept of an evolving solution.
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philshemFeb 23 '14 at 19:34

This implies that you actually found the best possible solution. Pretty different from "the solution I ended up using".
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CodesInChaosFeb 22 '14 at 11:44

@CodesInChaos In solution space, there are local optima and global optima. It's not uncommon, or even wrong, to use the term optimal solution on what is in fact merely a local optima. In part, that's true because whatever solution you implement must lie within the region of the feasible en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feasible_region, which is often far smaller than the entire solution space.
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Wayfaring StrangerFeb 22 '14 at 13:21

One issue with 'optimal solution' is that it doesn't guarantee it's the last.
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philshemFeb 22 '14 at 19:47

"Logical Conclusion" is similar to "Final Solution" and virtually devoid of connotation.

Also you may consider coining a neologism, perhaps something seemingly-contradictory, paradoxical or oxymoronic -- perhaps everconclusion or endorand (poor example practically, but interesting - combines the words "end" "or" and "and" as to suggest the (end) implies the inevitable connection of (or) the next thing (and)).

Don't make up words where perfectly good words already exist.
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David RicherbyFeb 22 '14 at 11:32

thank you, @DavidRicherby gives really important advice here. My suggesting making up a word resulted from that I took the original question to possibly involve an attempt to come up with a name for a company/project. But if that's not the case, there is probably not a single good reason to make up words as in alternative to seeking out and using those already in existence.
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miercolediFeb 22 '14 at 23:13

You say the answer doesn't have to be of the form " solution" but why not go the other way around?

At the moment, you have a series of solutions: solution 1, solution 2, ..., solution n. You could refer to solution n as just "the solution" and solutions 1 through n-1 as "intermediate stages", "solution stages", "intermediate solutions" or something like that.

It's not a matter of whether negative references are intended, but whether the reader infers them anyway. It is one thing to accidentally say something that people might find uncomfortable (for want of a better word); to acknowledge the discomfort and say it anyway is quite a different thing.
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David RicherbyFeb 22 '14 at 11:31

1

It's a bad solution, because it's an immediate reminder of precisely what one does not want to remind others of. It's roughly like the following the groom is single* -- *recently divorced leaving behind his ex-wife of six years and three young children. It's not what you want on your wedding invitations.
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virmaiorFeb 22 '14 at 13:33